Bang! Bang! My Baby Shot Me Down
InSITE correspondent, Shae Courtney reports on gun crime in the USA
T
he apparent rise in public shootings, particularly in the United States, has prompted calls for tougher and more stringent gun laws.
Since 1966, over one hundred Americans have gone on shooting sprees killing scores of people. Worldwide, nicknames for atrocities such as Columbine are synonymous with supposedly quite random attacks by segregated or outcast members of the community. Many people have pointed the finger at the decline in traditional morals, desensitisation through violent video games, the availability of firearms and the lax gun laws found in the U.S.
Are people desensitised and is this a contributing factor?
As I found out from an American graduate from the University of Virginia, the issue of gun crime and gun related violence is not as simple as it may first appear.
He said, “The lax gun laws are part and parcel of the American Constitution. The issue, however, is that Americans don’t always comprehend the significance of this responsibility that is bestowed upon them. Furthermore, it is naïve to say that public shootings, such as Virginia Tech and Columbine, are attributed directly to violent video games and television programmes.” In response to my question: “Are people desensitised and is this a contributing factor?” He replied, “Perhaps that’s one step too far. A lot of blame falls on the parents of these children. Poor parenting is certainly a contributing factor and is a result of a general shift in American society. Gun laws certainly need to be stricter. People need to realize liberty with responsibility and need to be responsible with freedom.”
Gun laws certainly need to be stricter
The laissez-faire approach that American government has always taken towards the lives of Americans has allowed for the ever-growing number of public shootings. The American Constitution, however, cannot be totally to blame. Poor parenting, the availability of firearms on the legal and illegal market and gratuitously violent video games and television programmes has all culminated to contribute to such brutality. I believe the only way the U.S can curb the increasing frequency of massacres is by implementing new government legislation to restrict and outlaw firearms for certain people – something which would certainly prove to be controversial for all members of American society.
